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Rhetorical Analysis Of Ich Bin Ein Berliner

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After the decisive defeat of Germany in World War II, the country had divided into East and West Germany during the Cold War. East and West Germany soon became the center of growing political tension between the two superb superpowers, the United States and the USSR. In June of 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the united states, stepped into the West Berlin and deliberately delivered his memorable “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech near the Berlin Wall. Meanwhile, his compelling speech aroused a tremendous acclamation of the immense crowd which overwhelmed the president. The speech was considered one of the best speeches of the world because it was inundated with both rhetorical appeals and devices throughout the entire speech. One of the rhetorical devices used in the speech was the ethos. Ethos is an ethical appeal used to persuade an audience of the speaker’s credibility or …show more content…

Pathos is a means to convince an audience emotionally. When he claimed “while the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system… it is… an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together” (Kennedy, “Ich bin ein Berliner”), he compellingly convinced the citizens of the West Berliner of how corruption and cruelty communism conquered East Germany by mentioning the separation of families and loved ones. President Kennedy have successfully invoked the sympathy from the West Berliner and made them feel what he wants them to feel as a consequence of communist corruption. This emotional appeal not only inspired the suffering and angered citizens to grow stronger against the European communist countries, but also enhanced the speech to be considered as one of the most compelling speeches of all

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